In a typical injection molding system, molten resin is loaded into a tubular passage called a runner. The molten resin flows from the runner through a gate valve and into the cavity of the mold. The resin in the mold is then cooled and hardens into an article. The mold is opened and the article is ejected.
In a cool runner injection molding system, resin inside the runner and the cavity of the mold is cooled and ejected. In contrast, in a hot runner injection system, resin in the hot runner is kept molten and injected into the cavity during the next molding cycle. In order to keep the resin in the runner molten, the runner is heated. In addition, the resin at the gate valve is cooled to prevent molten resin from dripping out when the mold is opened. This process requires precise and fast temperature control to effectuate changes. In addition, in the hot runner injection molding system, a heater can be utilized with a number of components, including, but not limited to a barrel, a distributor, and a nozzle.
There are a number of different ways to heat the runner. These include: electric resistance heating; induction heating; and a combination of both types of heating. Induction heating consists of winding insulated, conductive wires around the area surrounding the runner near the gate. When the windings are supplied with high frequency power, the area around the runner is heated by electromagnetic induction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,751 to Shibata et al. discloses a temperature control system for a hot runner plastic injection molding system where the voltage frequency is varied that is applied to the heater windings. However, Shibata et al. only adjusts the power to the heaters in discrete, automatic steps with parallel resistors and/or capacitors rather than utilizing seamless frequency variations based on a sensed temperature. Furthermore, Shibata et al. is limited to only varying voltage frequency and not voltage amplitude. U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,751 to Shibata et al. is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,485 to Kawagishi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,494 to Akagi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,677 to Nakata et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,667 to Tanaka et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,627 to Ogawa disclose utilizing pulse width modulation to convert AC power to DC power and are directed solely to motor control and not heating systems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,982 to Tanahashi discloses a system that uses pulse width modulation, conversion of AC power to DC power and then back to AC power, and then varying the voltage and the frequency for use with elevator motors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,029 to Araki, U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,464 to Nomura, U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,639 to Tsukahara, U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,763 to Ngo, U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,202 to Ibori et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,307 to Murugan disclose converting AC power to DC power and then back to AC power but does not involve the field of temperature control. U.S. Pat. No. 6,603,672 to Deng discloses conversion of DC current to AC current which is then converted from AC current to DC current and then controlling the output frequency. However, Deng does not disclose applying these methods to temperature control in the field of heaters that can be used in hot runner injection molding systems. U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,003 to Yeo and U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,985 to Tanahashi disclose current/voltage control for an elevator system.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,091 to Day discloses a control for heating currents in a multiple cavity injection molding machine using a solid state, bidirectional conducting device for controlling current load, a phase shifting capacitor connected to the conducting device, a variable resistor connected in parallel to the conducting device and a switch to short out the variable resistor to maximize the flow of current. However, Day does not disclose utilizing a digital signal processor for controlling voltage frequency or amplitude. U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,091 to Day is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0184689 to Maslov et al. discloses a microprocessor controller that alters the power supply based on current feedback. U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,318 to Bader et al. discloses taking a mean of measured temperatures in individual hot runners and raising and lowering the measured melt temperatures together. This Reference also appears to teach away from the present invention by stating: “To prevent continuous fluctuation in the hot-runner temperatures, however, the new temperature set points for the various cavities are first compared with the measured actual temperatures and the old set points, and only after this comparison in stage 33 of the computer is it decided whether a command should be given to the hot-runner controller 17 to alter the set point for a cavity.” (Column 5, Lines 38-45). Therefore, there is not a fast and efficient control of the heater but an analysis of a number of set points and then an alteration of the current set point.
Existing temperature controllers are not capable of fast and precise control of temperature. This lack of control allows temperature swings in the heater windings which causes heater failure creating a major problem. As shown in FIG. 1, a large temperature excursion is shown in the graph indicated by numeral 10. The temperature excursion (“dT”) is 300° Celsius with duty cycle of 14 seconds on and 114 seconds off. The results for a first temperature sensor are indicated by numeral 76, the results for a second temperature sensor are indicated by numeral 86 and the results for a third temperature sensor are indicated by numeral 96. The heaters, measured by all three (3) temperature sensors 76, 86 and 96, failed prior to 8,000 cycles. In addition, existing control systems utilize either zero switching or phase firing for control of the voltage supplied to the windings of the heaters. Phase firing introduces the problem of electrical noise into the system which also makes it difficult to have a fast and precise control of temperature.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.